Nevoleia Tyche greets you, visitor. I am famous here in Pompeii for being the woman with two tombs. Does this seem strange to you? You will understand when you hear my story. I was born a slave of Lucius Nevoleius, but through great efforts, I managed to gain my freedom from my master: I had to take his name when he set me free. Gaius Munatius Faustus, my husband, was a freed slave like me. What a great man! Just think! He was a member of two guilds, one of which was dedicated to the cult of the emperor. He did so much that the city council awarded him the honour of a plot of land outside the Porta Nocera, where we built our tomb. It is a beautiful tomb, undoubtedly a great achievement for us. But I… I wanted more. I wanted everyone to know just how far people like my husband and myself, who were not born free, can actually advance in society with their own determination and the help of the gods. So, during my lifetime, to celebrate us, I had an even more beautiful monument built, in an even more prestigious location—outside the Porta Ercolano where you now stand. Remembering my origins, I dedicated it to my own slaves, who I then freed. Look at the splendid scrollwork cornice that runs all around the façade! Admire, on one side, the backless chair which symbolises the privilege of having a seat in public places that my beloved Munatius was awarded by the city council and the people. On the other side there is a ship, a symbol of the trade that enabled us to prosper. You can also see my portrait, jutting out high up, behind a window, to remind everyone of my role as patron. But before you go, please, don’t forget to read the inscription I had engraved on the façade: it honours my husband’s merits and celebrates me along with him. This tomb is not just stone, it represents our story, the story of two freed slaves who succeeded in forging their own destiny.
THE TOMB IN THE NECROPOLIS OF PORTA ERCOLANO
Nevoleia Tyche had lived as a slave and after her manumission (act by means of which a master proclaims his slave free), she was keen to celebrate the social advancement of herself and her husband with this funerary monument in the necropolis of the Porta Ercolano. On the façade, facing the street, a scene of grain distribution – a public act of munificence – is depicted, surmounted by an inscription: “Naevoleia Tyche, freedwoman of Lucius Naevoleius, for herself and for Gaius Munatius Faustus, member of the cult of Augustus and suburban official, to whom, for his distinguished services, the city council, with the approval of the people, granted a seat of double width. Naevoleia Tyche built this monument during her life, also for her own freed slaves and for those of Gaius Munatius Faustus”. On the south side of the tomb, a seat is depicted and on the north side there is a ship.
The monument remained a cenotaph with commemorative functions given that the actual tomb containing their ashes is preserved in the necropolis of Porta Nocera: it is an enclosure-type building, accessible through an entrance covered by a pediment.
